Head coach Kurt Sanford has a group of two seniors and four juniors together heading to Fortress Obetz and Memorial Park, the site of the OHSAA State Cross Country Championships, for the third time to compete at state on Saturday. And joining them is a freshman, Evelyn Reinoehl, who placed second at regionals.
“They’re chomping at the bit to get going,” Sanford said. “... I just think they wish it was already Saturday. I mean, they’re ready.”
Oakwood’s previous best finish at state was runner-up in 2020 with individual champion Grace Hartman on the team.
Oakwood is the top ranked Division III team in this week’s OATCCC state poll. Many of the same runners were part of the school’s runner-up finish at the state track and field championships in the spring.
The team’s top-five scorers at regionals all placed in the top-11 and were separated by 53 seconds.
“We train the way we race them,” Sanford said. “They train in packs with the people they’re expected to race with on Saturdays. But what you can never account for is that on any given Saturday, somebody’s going to have an amazing day.”
Reinoehl filled that role Saturday with juniors Delaney Cahill, Isa Dunlap and Katherine Erwin and senior Riley Meador all earning points for the team as well.
Sanford said it’s unsurprising the team has learned to race well together and manage their paces.
Entering the season, the girls expected to be in the mix at the end of the year, according to Sanford, and have an understanding of the program’s culture.
“There’s a lot of pride on that girls team,” he said. “The boys team does not have the same history as the girls, but they’re building that tradition as well.”
The boys will be making its fifth consecutive state appearance. The team won a three-team tiebreaker for second place at regionals.
Senior Tony Orsello displayed the mindset instilled through training to make every result count. He got a crucial point with his 24th place finish, crossing the line by a quarter second ahead of Kade Schweikhardt of Bethel, which propelled the team into the three-way tie. Sanford said with four of the state’s top-six teams running in the region, it was the exactly what the team needed to understand what it will take to place well at state.
And with the groups going together, he thinks it helps to have the support of everyone pushing one another each step of the way.
“I’ve never observed any gamesmanship or jealousy or anything like that,” Sanford said of the two groups running together during training. “They cheer each other on at meets, I see them high fiving and being supportive. A little competition wouldn’t hurt.”
The Troy course at regionals didn’t provide much in the way of strategy with it mostly being made up of loops. A narrow turn runners encounter at the start of the Obetz course as they initially enter the stadium is thought by Sanford to be the crucial point of Saturday’s race. The expanded field of 216 runners at state will make it a tight squeeze to fight for position as 24 teams and other individuals converge on the 90 degree right turn down the hill.
Sanford said he feels his team does well thinking positively on race day and have learned how attitude and effort are the best motivators during the pre-race waiting time.
There won’t be any big speeches or pep talks from Sanford in the moments leading up to the starting horn.
“They’re not listening to you anyways. Their heads have already gone into the race,” he said.
OHSAA STATE CROSS COUNTRY
CHAMPIONSHIPS SCHEDULE
D-IV Girls: 10 a.m.
D-IV Boys: 10:40 a.m.
D-III Girls: 11:50 a.m.
D-III Boys: 12:30 p.m.
D-II Girls: 1:40 p.m.
D-II Boys: 2:20 p.m.
D-I Girls: 3:30 p.m.
D-I Boys: 4:10 p.m.
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